To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting it into a disciplined work of art, is to make the mistake of attempting to substitute art for life.
The results of such profound confusion between art and life are neither life nor art. They are taxidermy. In its place, taxidermy can be a useful and decent craft. However, it goes too far when the specimens put on display are exhibitions of dead, stuffed cities.

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist

The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Part 4, ch. 19 (1961)
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